Weekly goals for week of 6/25/12

Thought I would post some goals for this week.

1) Have a daily quiet time
2) Exercise 6 days
3) Do one craft/project with the kids
4) Make bread, etc for week.
5) Keep up with laundry & ironing
6) Clean off random papers from desk & counters.

Last week Matt & I went on a trip to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary. It was a great time away but now I have to get back into the normal routine.

God's "linky" party

I love that God's Word is so perfect; that it links together so beautifully.  For my quiet times I have been doing a couple different things depending on the day.  Some days I will work on some summer "homework" from a Mom's Bible study I attend during the school year.  Other days I will read thru a chapter in the book "Be Satisfied" by Warren Wiersbe and on other days I will simply choose a Bible passage to read.

The summer homework consists of reading a magazine put out by Insight for Living which profiles 20 women that Jesus ministered to during his time here on earth.  The other day I did the profile for the Widow of Nain (Luke 7:11-17)  she was a widow whose only son had died and as they were carrying him to be buried Jesus entered Nain, was so moved with compassion for this widow that He raised her son from the dead.  The theme for this profile focused on Jesus' compassion but also on how we handle when God closes a door on a dream.  The question was asked "Now what?  What do you do with your faith now?"  Do I rest in God and His perfect wisdom or do I set my shoulder and keep pushing against the door thinking I know better?

That particular morning I had a bit of extra time so I decided to read in "Be Satisfied"  the title to the next section was "Wisdom helps us see life clearly (Ecc. 7:11-18)"  More on God's wisdom!  The opening paragraph in this section ended with this statement "When you have God's wisdom, you will be able to accept and deal with the changing experiences of life."  My immediate thought was that once again I was being challenged in how I deal with "slammed doors", with changes in my life that I never anticipated.  The following is another quote that really spoke to my heart that morning:

"We don't fully understand all the works of God, but we do 

know that "He hath made everything beautiful in it's 

time" (Ecc. 3:11).  This includes the things we may think are

twisted and ugly."

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom" Proverbs 9:10

Often those rough days, that I spoke of in an earlier post, are opportunities for us to see God make the twisted and ugly beautiful and to build a deeper reverance for Him in our hearts.  Yet how often, in my selfishness & sinfulness, I miss that opportunity.

I wanted to close with a glimpse of not just God's wisdom but of who God is!  By what authority He can grant such wisdom and strength, for everything we might face.  Tuesday night I attended a Bible Study and one of the women shared a few verses from Isaiah 40.  This morning I decided to read thru this chapter.  Many people have memorized and often quote Isaiah 40:31 but I would challenge you to read thru this entire chapter to get a bigger picture of Who the God is that can give us such strength.  

Lift up your eyes on high,
And see who has created these things,
Who brings out their host by number;
He calls them all by name,
By the greatness of His might
And the strength of His power;
Not one is missing.

(40:26)

 Have you not known?
Have you not heard?
The everlasting God, the Lord,
The Creator of the ends of the earth,
Neither faints nor is weary.
His understanding is unsearchable.

He gives power to the weak,
And to those who have no might He increases strength.

(40:28-29)

And the most "miraculous" link for me this morning was that God brought all of these lessons full circle in my thinking about needing His wisdom in parenting when, in verses 10-11 He says

  

Behold, the Lord God shall come with a strong hand,
And His arm shall rule for Him;
Behold, His reward is with Him,
And His work before Him.

He will feed His flock like a shepherd;
He will gather the lambs with His arm,
And carry them in His bosom,
And gently lead those who are with young.

God is ready, willing and more than able to carry my family and gently lead us with our children!!!

 

Wisdom lessons

I wanted to share a couple things that God has been reminding me, teaching me over the past couple of weeks.  They've been an encouragement to me and I hope they are to you also.

Last week we had a very rough day.  It seemed that all of us were just grumpy and no matter what we tried, obedience was not happening.  We were tired, frustrated and overwhelmed.  That night, practically in tears, I said to my husband "I just don't know what to do.  What will make them listen and behave."  Now, I was not doing my best at keeping my own emotions in check which I know lead to much of the friction so I'm not absolving myself of some responsibility.

The next morning I was in the shower and God brought a couple verses in James to my mind.  The first was James 1:5 & 6

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, 

who gives to all liberally and without reproach, 

and it will be given to him. ⁶ But let him ask in faith, with no 

doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea 

driven and tossed by the wind.

I may not know how to raise my kids, or how to always control my emotions but God does!  He is just waiting for me to seek His wisdom so that he can lavish his love and wisdom on our family.  I need only rest in Him having faith that He will keep His promises.  So, the next question that came to mind was "what does God's wisdom look like?"  Again a verse in James sums this up very well.

But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, 

then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and 

good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. ¹⁸ 

 Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

James 3:17 & 18

Ouch, those words hit my heart hard!  I had certainly not been pure in my speech to my children or husband, I had not been peaceable or gentle.  I often fight against yielding to God's will or showing His mercy to those, who ironically, I love the most on this earth.  In order for God's righteousness to bear fruit in my life I need to be a peacemaker.  I must give up my "rights" and sometimes even my comforts (how many times I would rather sit with a book & cup of tea rather than help one of my children in the bathroom, wipe a nose, etc).  But thru all this God promises His wisdom!  Wow!  What a far better treasure than a cup of tea & good book! 

It's always fun to see how God links things together so in another post I will share a couple more things that God has showed me this week building on trusting in Him for wisdom to all of life's circumstances.  In closing I want to leave you with two more verses from James.  These verses are ones that, while I often struggle to follow, is something I often find myself quoting in my head.

So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift 

to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; ²⁰ for the wrath of

 man does not produce the righteousness of God.

James 1:19 & 20

Do you get a "high" from spending time with God?

This was the question that pressed upon my mind this morning as I was showering.  For the past several months I have been on a consistent exercise routine.  I've gotten to the point where (for the most part) I look forward to my exercise time.  I also know when I've really worked hard; I get that "high".  A couple weeks ago I switched my exercise routine and noticed that some of the workouts, while still working my muscles just aren't as intense and I don't get that high.

All of this led me to think about my time with God.  This is another area I've been working on consistency in and God has been blessing both in providing the time and also teaching and challenging me.  Often times, while my time in God's Word works my spiritual "muscles" I don't take the time to intensely meditate on what I've read, what God is saying to me and miss the "high" that comes from pushing myself to the next level of communion with my Father. 

My prayer is that I will not be satisfied until I have pressed God, searched His Word and pushed myself to the point of being high on God!